Blacking-brush



(No Model.)

B. L. STEVENS.

BLAGKING BRUSH.

Patented Apr. 14,1891.

. WITNESSES d'JTwL M04 ATTORNEYS- TATES NITED BLACKlNG-BRUSH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,500, dated April 14, 1891.

Application filed May 29, 1890. Serial No. 353,686. (No model.)

To ail whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. STEVENS, of \Vard, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new andusefulImprovementin Blacking-Brushes, of which the following is a full, clear, and ex-' act description.

This invention relates particularly to a shoe-blacking machine operated by manual power; and the object of this invention'is to provide amachine of this character by means of which boots or shoes can be blacked by the wearer without the discomforts of stooping or bending. The risks of soiling the hands and clothing are also removed, and the operation is completed much sooner than when performed by hand in the usual manner.

The invention consists of a base, a frame supported thereon, a foot-rest, and a pair of brushes arranged within the frame, and means for reciprocating said brushes in opposite directions over and alongside the foot rest, whereby a boot or shoe held upon the footrest will be polished or cleaned.

The invention consists, also, in certain details of construction and combination of parts, whereby the various objects of the invention are accomplished, as set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which the same numerals of reference indicate the same parts, Figure 1is a side view of my improved blacking-machine. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 is a top plan view, certain parts being broken away; and Fig. a is an end view showing slight modifications.

In the practical embodiment of my invention I provide a base 10, and at opposite corners of the same secure the uprights 11, which are connected at the top by the cross-piece 12 and braced bythe diagonal brace-beam 13, extending from one of the uprights to the cross-piece. A foot-rest 141, of any approved construction, is mounted upon the base about midway between the uprights. Parallel horizontal rock-shafts 15 and 16 are passed through the lower ends of the uprights, and to the shaft 15, near one end, is rigidly secured a crank arm or lever 17, and near the adjacent end of the shaft 16 is secured a similar crankarm or lever 18, extending in the opposite direction to the crank-arm 17. A hand-lever 19 is pivoted to the upright adjacent to the crank arms orlevers 17 and 18, and said handlever is connected with the said crank-arms by means of the connecting or pitmen rods 20 and 21, the rod 20 being connected to the crank-arm 18 by the wrist-pin 1S and the rod 21 to the arm 17 by the wrist-pin 17 By this construction the shafts 15 and 16 will be rocked in opposite direct-ions when the hand-lever is reciprocated.

An upwardly-extending arni 22 is secured to each rack-shaft, said arms 22 being arranged upon opposite sides of the foot-rest, and upon the free ends of the arms 22 are so cured the brushes 23, said brushes being so secured that the fibers will contact with a boot or shoe held upon the foot-rest.

The operation of my improved machine is as follows: The boot or shoe, being daubed with blacking, is placed upon the foot-rest, the hand-lever being so moved as to separate the brushes as widely as possible, whereby the foot can be easily placed upon the rest. The hand-lever is reciprocated and the connecting-rods operate the crank arms or levers, rocking the shafts in opposite directions, and the brushes are consequently reciprocated in opposite directions over and along the footrest, thereby cleaning or polishing a boot or shoe held upon said rest. This blacking operation is accomplished by the wearer without stooping, and said operation is completed in a very short time.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a slightly modified construction in which the brushes are hinged to the arms 22 by hinges and supported by springs attached to the upper end of the arms and connected with the brushes, and the said arms are also distanced by a sleeve upon one of the rock-shafts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. In a boot-blacking machine, the combination, with a vertical frame, of a pair of horizontal rock-shafts journaled near the bottom of said frame, a foot-rest arranged above the rock-shafts and near the lower portion of the frame, brushes carried by the rock-shafts and arranged upon opposite sides of the foot-rest,

and levers connected with the rock-shafts to turn them in opposite directions, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a boot and shoe blacking machine, the combination, with a frame, of rockshafts arranged to turn in said frame, brushes carried by the rock-shafts, and a lever connected In a boot and shoe blacking machine, the combination, with a base, of aframe supported thereon, a foot-rest, rock-shafts arranged to turn in said frame, crank arms or levers secured to the said shafts and extending in opposite directions, a pitman connected to each crank-arm, a hand-lever connected to the pitmen, arms mounted upon the rockshafts and arranged upon opposite sides of the foot-rest, and brushes carried at the free ends of the arms, whereby said brushes will contact with a shoe held upon the foot-rest When the hand-lever is reciprocated, su bstantially as shown and described.

ROBERT L. SIEYENS.

Witnessesr' MARY (J. JANVIER, Mcwrs E. BUCKLEY. 

